


Fuck it I'll do it myself

by beesandlebrunes



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Depression, Implied Sexual Content, Mental Health Issues, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Sexual Humor, Trans Character, if they're a girl then they're trans, no genderbending in these christian suburbs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2018-12-30 16:31:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12112713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beesandlebrunes/pseuds/beesandlebrunes
Summary: In which they're queer and in college.





	1. Row flag la po

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Roflaglappo,” Seokmin said, dead serious despite his quivering voice, “Latin for ‘until next time.’ ”

Jeonghan scoffed around the straw in their milkshake when Seokmin slid into the booth across from them. “First you’re late, now you show up wearing camo? Unfriended.”

Seokmin stole the straw and took a long sip of the shake. “You told me to be discreet. And, well.” He gestured toward the camouflage jacket he was wearing, which he’d thrown on over his university tee before he left to meet Jeonghan.

A fry flew past his head and narrowly missed his ear. He didn’t even notice Jeonghan had picked one up. “Anyway, if you’re done being a doofus, _look_ who’s working tonight.”

“If it’s Wonwoo or Jihoon I’m going to be so pissed you made me get out of bed for this.”

“They don’t even work here!” They made a move as if they were about to toss another fry, but sighed and sat back. “It’s Kwon Soonyoung. _Don’t_ — don’t _look_ , you imbecile, you’re so obvious,” they hissed, earning a few looks from the Kappa Delta Kappa pledges at the next table. Seokmin recognized one of them, Kim Mingyu, from summer orientation and gave an apologetic smile. She shrugged and smiled back.

Seokmin stole another sip of Jeonghan’s milkshake. Jeonghan leaned in and whispered, “Over there. They’re serving that table of cishets in the corner.”

“Jeonghan,” Seokmin rolled his eyes, and his neck started to ache from hunching over the table, “like every table here is full of cishets.”

“But they’re _obvious_ cishets. Look now.”

Using the milkshake as shitty cover, Seokmin glanced over his shoulder to the other end of the diner. Angelo’s was tiny, and it was cramped during the Sunday breakfast rush, but it only took Seokmin seconds to spot Kwon Soonyoung’s bright orange hair. They wore just a plain black tee with a blue flannel tied around their waist, but Seokmin could still feel the temperature in the already hot diner rise a few more degrees.

“Holy shit,” Seokmin breathed, the straw still in his mouth. “They’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever--fuck, Jeonghan oh my _god_ —Jeonghan are they--" 

“Holy shit, they’re coming over here,” said Jeonghan.

“Act cool!”

“I should be saying that to you, you gay piece of—oh hi Soonyoung! I didn’t know you worked here.” If Seokmin weren’t in the midst of a gay panic, he would be impressed at the ease with which Jeonghan switched from threatening to sweet and buttery.

Soonyoung raised an eyebrow. “You saw me here last week, Jeonghan. I served you food.”

“And now you’re serving me attitude— _ow_!” Jeonghan reached down to rub their shin and pouted at Seokmin.

“Hey Soonyoung. How’s it going?”

Soonyoung turned to Seokmin, and their cheeks puffed out in a smile that turned the inside of Seokmin’s mouth to Elmer’s glue. “Hey Seokmin. Finally taking a break from racquetball, huh?”

Seokmin blanched. No one was supposed to know he joined Minghao’s cousin Wen Junhui’s stupid racquetball team except for the one other member of the team, Junhui’s roommate, and Minghao. Seokmin made a point not to tell anyone, including Jeonghan.

“You play _racquetball_?”

Heat flooded Seokmin’s cheeks. He palmed the sweaty skin at the nape of his neck. “Uh, yeah, haha. Only sometimes, though.”

Soonyoung cocked their head. “Sometimes? You were practicing all morning. It looked intense.”

“Yeah, racquetball is, uh, _très sérien._ ”

“ _Très sérieux_.”

“ _God_ , yes.” _Why_ did Seokmin have to fall for a French major?

Soonyoung giggled. They opened their mouth as if to say something, but then someone from the kitchen called their name. They checked their watch and cursed under their breath. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll see you around?”

The question was clearly directed toward Seokmin, but looking into Soonyoung’s youthful eyes which burst with potential energy made Seokmin forget every single word of the English language. What was supposed to be a flirty-and-suggestive-but-not-too-suggestive reply ended up sounding like, “Roflaglappo.”

Soonyoung pursed their lips together, trying to hold back laughter, and somewhere in the background Jeonghan was choking on their straw. “Roflaglappo?” Soonyoung repeated.

_Okay, Seokmin. You fucked up. Damage control time._ “Roflaglappo,” Seokmin said, dead serious despite his quivering voice, “Latin for ‘until next time.’ ”

“Okay then, Seokmin. Well, roflaglappo.” With a final wink and a stab to Seokmin’s whimpering heart, Soonyoung sauntered back to the kitchen.

Jeonghan stared at Seokmin. “Roflaglappo.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

 

HALL LESBIAN HONG JISOO

Jisoo rolled her eyes as she crumpled up the note someone — probably Seungcheol — had taped to her door. It was all good-natured best friend teasing, and everyone knew Jisoo was bi anyway, but the last time Seungcheol decided to advertise Jisoo’s sexual preferences landed her an angry voicemail from her RA.

She stuffed the crumpled note into her front pocket and headed to the elevator. It was Sunday, which for most students meant _do nothing all day then do laundry and Monday’s homework at 11 p.m._ , but to Jisoo it meant:

  * Morning mass
  * Kappa Delta Kappa chapter meeting
  * GED tutoring at the public library
  * Review of the upcoming week’s readings...
  * ...and the week after that
  * Review of the mock-up of the upcoming week’s LGBTQ Student Association Newsletter
  * Any other responsibilities she may have acquired over the week



Today, the last item included meeting individually with one of her freshman mentees from the Honors College. Unfortunately, she was busy all day starting at 9:30 in the morning, so they arranged to meet on the steps outside the university library as early as 8:30.

“You’re not Minghao.”

Wen Junhui was perched on the bottom step, scribbling in a leather-bound journal. He looked up and flashed a lazy smile. “Hey, Jisoo. Minghao couldn’t make it, got wrapped up in something important. They texted me twenty minutes ago asking me to meet you.”

“They couldn’t just cancel? I have a schedule, you know, and _this_ doesn’t work with a surrogate.” Jisoo waved a hand between the two of them, then gestured at Junhui.

Junhui held up his hands in defense. “Take it up with them, not me.” He regarded her carefully. “Can I offer you a ride to wherever you’ve got to be? For your troubles.”

Jisoo stared as he rose from the step, all six feet of him. He had almost a half foot on Jisoo, with long, lean legs, just enough muscle to avoid looking scrawny. Jisoo checked the time on her phone, then said, “Fine."

 

 

Setting: Seokmin and Minghao’s dorm room. The doors to the bathroom that connected their room to their suitemates’ were open. Seungkwan and Minghao were both sprawled across the Pokéball rug, with Seungkwan straddling Minghao’s skinny frame and Minghao clawing at the shoulders of Seungkwan’s shirt. Hansol sat atop Minghao’s loft bed, hunched over a baby pink Nintendo DS. He’d just finished his part-time job with Tom Nook.

“If you don’t like Victorious then get out of this fucking suite!”

“It’s _stupid_ and Jade deserves better!”

Seungkwan froze. “You’re so right. But it’s not stupid, it’s a work of _art_.”

The door opened, and Minghao took that second of distraction and scrambled out from under Seungkwan.

“Hey Seok,” said Minghao.

“Seokmin, tell this _cretin_ that—”

“Stop. I could hear you guys from all the way down the hall. And no, Seungkwan. Victorious is not a work of art.” Seungkwan started to protest, but Seokmin held up a hand and went on. “To give a man-made definition to something that transcends man’s own existence is to disrespect that thing.”

Seungkwan gave a holler of approval as Minghao groaned, “For the love of _god_.” Hansol laughed quietly to himself while he watered all the flowers in Caratlan.

“Hey Sol.” Seokmin peeked up at him. “Guess who I saw today.”

“Kwon Soonyoung?”

“Kwon fucking Soonyoung. We talked for a bit, I worked my magic,” Seungkwan and Minghao gave twin snorts, which Seokmin wisely chose to ignore, “and you know what I fucking did?”

“Sucked their dick?” Seungkwan.

“Absolutely nothing because you’re a wuss?” Minghao.

Seokmin waited for Hansol to prompt him, so he did. “What did you do?”

“I said ‘roflaglappo.’ _Roflaglappo_! What the hell is that?”

“I don’t know,” said Hansol. “What is it?”

“I told them it meant ‘until next time’ in Latin.”

“Aren’t they fluent in French?” Seungkwan said.

“Exactly, asshole. French, as in, _not Latin_.”

“Okay, but do you really think they’re that gullible?”

“Seungkwan shut up. Did they say anything?” Minghao said.

Seokmin’s head disappeared from the edge of the loft. Hansol scooted forward to see what he was doing, and caught the last millisecond of Seokmin collapsing in a dramatic display. The other two suitemates looked on, unamused.

“Just spit it out.” Seungkwan.

“Come on, twat.” Minghao.

“They said it back to me... then winked.”

A beat.

“They said rafflepogo?” Seungkwan said, incredulous. “What the hell’s wrong with them?”

"That's what you take from this? They winked at me, Seungkwan!"

“That’s pretty gay, dude,” Hansol said, having abandoned Animal Crossing.

Seokmin sat up. “Wait, really? Gay as in they like me?”

Minghao groaned. “My god, it’s just a wink and a word, it’s not like they asked you to have sex with them.”

“But think about it,” Seungkwan said. “If it were Minghao, they would’ve told you to fuck off.”

“Most people are nicer than Minghao,” Hansol pointed out.

“Hey! I’m nice!”

“Yeah, in the same way a crocodile might be,” Seungkwan mumbled. Minghao hit him, and they gasped before returning the hit. In seconds, they were back to where they were ten minutes ago.

Seokmin turned to Hansol. “It’s almost noon. You need a ride to your thing?”

Hansol shook his head. “No, I’m gonna walk. Thanks though.”

“Okay. Seeya.”

“Bye Hansol!” Seungkwan.

“Don’t walk into moving traffic.” Minghao.

 

Jisoo smoothed out her skirt and checked her makeup for smudging in the side mirror while Junhui tucked himself back in. “You messed up my lipstick.”

“You’re the one who was _so eager_ to suck my dick.”

Jisoo rolled her eyes. “Suck a cock, Wen Junhui,” Jisoo said, almost fondly, when she was done reapplying.

“Round two already? I mean, if you insist.”

Jisoo wanted to, really. If she didn’t shove a dick into Junhui’s mouth to wipe that shit-eating grin off his face, then who would? But mass started in three minutes, and the church ladies were nosy and would ask questions if she showed up late. So she settled for kissing Junhui, chaste and quick.

He pouted. “That’s all I get?”

“No. You got your dick sucked.”

“Damn right I did.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Besides, I don’t want to have to reapply my lipstick again.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, then next time I’ll wear lipstick and suck you off. Return the favor.”

Heat rose to Jisoo’s cheeks. “Stop.”

“What, does that turn you on? You wanna wreck my pretty red mouth, make a mess of me? You want that, baby?”

“Stop! I’m gonna be late for mass. I’ll see you later.”

“Aw, fine. Later, babe.”

Jisoo climbed out of Junhui’s car. Before she opened the door to the church, she looked back over her shoulder, and he was still there. He waved and smiled, a genuine smile with none of his usual greasiness. Jisoo turned away and went into the church, a tight feeling in her chest.

 

“How are you adjusting?”

“Fine, I guess.”

“How are your suitemates?”

“They’re cool.”

“That’s good. How’s your dosage?”

Hansol shifted on the old pleather couch. “Could be higher.”

His therapist made that face. They weren’t really supposed to make faces, but Hansol had been in the business long enough that he’d started to notice the tiniest shift in expression. This one said _I’m tired_. So was he.

“You’re already at a pretty high dose.” Hansol shrugged. “What makes you think you need to go higher?”

Hansol almost shrugged again, but reminded himself that refusing to communicate wouldn’t get him anywhere. “My mood hasn’t really improved this month.”

His therapist made another face, wanting to talk more, but ended up just writing up a prescription for a higher dosage on the Zoloft. Hansol left then, even though there were still twenty-four minutes left in the session, and told himself he’d use the extra time to stop by the pharmacy to pick up the new prescription.

The river ran fast that time of year. It wasn’t deadly, but it was dangerous enough for the city Parks and Rec department to have it fenced off so little kids wouldn’t stumble upon it while playing and jump in. The fence was relatively easy for Hansol to climb, though, so he went every once in a while to sit by the river in peace. He usually read a book or wrote, but he didn’t have anything with him so he just sat on the bank and listened to the rushing water.

The last time he went to the river was the day before he moved into the dorms. His parents lived in the city, less than ten minutes away from school, so Hansol had assumed he would commute to class. But his parents thought living in the dorms would be good for him, _the college experience_ , and they were well off enough that paying room and board didn’t bother them. The fight was about his meds. His dad flipped his shit when he found out Hansol’s dosage had increased again. _You’re not trying hard enough_ , they told him. But he was trying. He was trying so hard, but it was like breathing underwater, being strangled by a current. He thrashed and gasped for air and sometimes he would break the surface, just enough to get in a short breath. Maybe a big one, if he was lucky. And then he would go under again. It would choke him, fill his lungs then spread to the rest of him until it seeped out of every part of him.

Hansol didn’t realize he’d been clenching his fist until he saw the blood drip from his fist onto the sand. It soaked into the earth, leaving behind the barest trace of red. He held his open palm out over the river and watched the blood run down his hand and into the water.

Something black passed through his line of sight behind his hand, in the river. He peered downstream, weary enough that it took him a couple seconds to realize it was a cat.

Hansol scrambled to his feet, pushing off the bank with his hands and hissing when dirt got in the open scratches on his palm. The river had slowed down a bit since he arrived, but it was still too fast to outrun it. Before reason could catch up with him, he jumped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) BASICALLY there aren't enough trans svt fics soooooo... fuck it i'll do it myself
> 
> 2) soonyoung and minghao are both nonbinary because i'm selfish and need to project myself onto someone
> 
> 3) pls leave comments, this is my first fic and i crave validation :')


	2. I would die for her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cat, a party, a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg... sorry this took so long! it gets a little sexy in this chapter but not enough that i wanna bump the rating. (probs will bump it in the future though) this chapter is over 5k so i hope that makes up for the 2 month long wait lol !

_Sunday, October 21: Drenched in cat piss._  

“Chan, now is _not_ the time to write in your diary!”

Chan slammed his mini notebook shut and tucked it into his back pocket. “Sorry, Jihoon.”

Jihoon rolled her eyes as she sweeped more of the broken glass from the floor of the clinic. “The lab’s gonna smell like piss for the rest of eternity now. Christ.”

“Sorry,” Chan mumbled. He continued mopping up the pee.

Over the sound of glass lightly scraping the tile, Jihoon sighed. “It’s not just your fault. I pushed you.”

Chan hummed. It _was_ Jihoon’s fault for pushing Chan into the rack of urine samples; for someone as small as Jihoon, she had some real muscle, probably from cheer. But she would wring Chan’s neck if he said any of that.

It was silent for a few minutes, save for the squelching of the mop and Jihoon’s cursing, then the bell on the front door rang. Chan and Jihoon stopped moving and exchanged miserable looks.

Jihoon checked her watch and groaned. “Are you shitting me? We’re _closed_.”

“Are we closed if we didn’t actually do closing?” Chan wondered aloud, and Jihoon shot him a glare.

“Hello? Is anyone here? I need help.”

Chan looked at Jihoon, waiting for her direction, and for a moment she just stared blankly at the door that led out into the lobby. Then she snapped out of her daze, turned to Chan, and said, “The hell are you just standing there for? Go see what this fucker needs.”

The mop made another disgusting _squelch_ as Chan dropped it back into the bucket and hurried out into the lobby. He shed the piss-stained latex gloves and dropped them into the trash by the front desk, where a boy stood with a black cat cradled in his hands, both of them soaked to the bone.

“Shit, what happened to you?” Chan blurted before clamping his hand over his mouth. “Sorry. Uh, how can I help you?”

“She was drowning in the river, I jumped in to save her.” The boy was panting, but as pale as Chan’s lab coat would be if it weren’t stained yellow with cat urine, and shivering, as was the cat.

“Shit.” This time Chan let the word slip out. “Let me get some towels. Stay right there!”

The boy nodded, and Chan ran into the back. He remembered where they kept the towels, only because he tried to use some to clean up the mess in the lab before Jihoon yelled at him, and pulled some out of the cupboard.

“Here, I’ll take the cat,” Chan said when he returned to the lobby. He held out one of the towels and the boy gently placed the cat in it. Chan held the cat close to his chest. “I’ll take her into one of the rooms.” Chan nodded toward the untouched towels that he left on the counter. “The extra towels are for you. You’re wet and freezing, take one.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.”

Chan pushed open one of the exam rooms with his foot and the boy followed, draped cutely in a towel. “I’m actually not the veterinary assistant, but I’ll leave the little guy on the examination table for a second while I get her, okay?”

The boy nodded, and Chan went to find Jihoon. She was still in the lab, mopping up the last of the pee.

“What’s the story?” she asked.

“He saved a drowning cat, you need to have a look at her.”

“Shit. Okay, let me get my shit together real quick. Go wait with the cat.”

“Okay.” They left the lab in opposite directions, Jihoon going to get vet supplies and Chan going back to the exam room.

 

 _Helping a kid who saved a cat from drowning_ , Chan wrote in his notebook. _Working overtime._ ~~_Probably_~~ _Definitely unpaid._

“She’s gonna be okay, right?”

Jihoon removed her stethoscope and placed it on the exam table, all while scratching the cat’s chin. “Yeah, she’ll be all right. Just tired and malnourished, a little bit of bruising. Keep her warm and well-fed. Hydrated, too. She should be back to full strength in a few days, then you can drop her off at the nearest shelter, or keep her. Or take her to a shelter now.”

“They’ll take shit care of her though, won’t they?”

Jihoon shrugged. “They might. All shelters operate differently, I know some good ones in the area if that’s what you decide. But I can’t tell you what to do.”

“Okay. I guess... I guess I’ll keep her in my dorm until she’s better.”

“You Seungkwan’s roommate?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think you remembered me. You’re Jeonghan and Wonwoo’s girlfriend, right?”

“In the flesh. Anyway, cats aren’t allowed in the dorms, so don’t let the RA catch you.”

“I’ll try.”

“Well, I’m done here. Chan can wrap up.” Jihoon turned to Chan, acknowledging him for the first time since she entered the exam room. “Give him a few of those little packs of food, enough to last a week. Complimentary. Don’t want the cat so starve just because this kid’s on a student budget. You need a ride home?”

Chan shook his head. “I can take the bus.” Chan hated the bus, but Wonwoo was picking Jihoon up from work that night, and the one time he accepted the offer for a ride exposed Chan to more sexual tension than he cared to experience secondhand. This time he’ll let them have their fun.

“Okay. See you Friday.”

When Jihoon left, Chan felt an awkward silence coming on, so he immediately went to the cabinet to get the food. “I’m giving you seven packs of food. One per day is enough. Give her half a pack in the morning and the other half in the evening.”

“Thanks.”

Chan looked up at Hansol and panicked at his ashen face. “Shit, are you gonna be okay? Do you have hypothermia? Do you need to go to the emergency room?”

“I’m fine, I just...” Hansol looked down at the cat, who’d taken to a nap, and bit his lip. “I’ve never taken care of a cat before. I had a hamster, once, when I was ten. That was it.”

“What happened to the hamster?”

“He died.”

Chan surveyed Hansol for a long moment. “You seem responsible enough, a conscientious guy. All you have to do is feed her and give her a place to sleep for like, a week, then you won’t have to worry. Or you could always just take her to a shelter.”

Hansol nodded. “I know, but I feel kind of responsible for her. Is that weird?”

“Well, you did pull her out of the freakin’ water. That’s like, a bonding experience.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Are you gonna give her a name?”

Hansol frowned. “I didn’t think about it. What about Fluffy?”

“Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“It’s not _that_ bad.”

Chan rolled his eyes. “No. She’s a survivor. You can’t give her a shitty generic name like Fluffy. Try again.”

This time, Hansol took his time, gazing down at the sleeping cat with an intense determination. “How about Artemis?”

 _It’s pretentious_ , Chan wanted to say, but Hansol looked at least somewhat proud of the name and Chan didn’t want to rain on his parade. “I like it. It suits her.”

Hansol smiled, and since that was the first time he’d smiled all night, Chan couldn’t help but smile back.

 

Jihoon found Wonwoo in the parking lot, leaning against the trunk of her old Honda Civic. When she saw Jihoon, she looked her up and down. “You look like shit. The hell’s on your scrubs?”

“Spilled cat piss everywhere.”

“Explains why you also look _pissed_ off,” Wonwoo said with her cat-like smirk.

“Shut the fuck up,” Jihoon said, though she couldn’t suppress a smile at the relief of seeing her girlfriend. She poked Wonwoo’s side. “Missed you.”

Wonwoo’s smirk dissolved into a smile, much more subtle than the former but full of warmth. “Missed you too.”

“I didn’t get to see you this morning before you left, you didn’t tell me you took another morning shift.”

“Yeah, it was kind of last minute. Sorry, Ji.”

“I told you you don’t have to work mornings.”

Wonwoo sighed. “Let’s talk about this in the car, yeah?”

“Okay.” Jihoon got into the passenger seat and waited for Wonwoo to get in the car. “We’re in the car. Why are you taking more hours?”

“I know — look.” Wonwoo ran her hand through her black hair, which had grown long enough to fall over her eyes. “Money’s kinda tight right now, we all know it. You aren’t working as many hours this term because you’re busier than last term, and Jeonghan can’t work because of their OCD, so that leaves me. I’m not taking as many credits as last term, so I have the time.”

“Wonwoo, you took _extra_ credits last term, you have a normal courseload now and the cheer team _and_ you’re an honors mentor, don’t tell me you have the time to work forty hours a week.”

“If it’ll help pay the rent and put food on the table then I can make time. And I’m not working forty hours a week. It’s closer to thirty-five.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Wonwoo.” Jihoon’s voice cracked, and she put her head in her hands for a moment, trying to collect herself. “Just drive. We need to include Jeonghan in this discussion.”

“They already know, and they agree with me. We need the money, Jihoon. Hey.” Wonwoo lifted Jihoon’s chin. “It’s gonna be okay. I can handle it.” She wiped Jihoon’s wet cheeks with the callused tips of her fingers, then kissed Jihoon’s forehead.

“I love you,” Jihoon said, barely able to make her voice louder than a whisper.

“I love you too, Ji.” Wonwoo’s eyes shone with tears and her voice shook. She kissed Jihoon’s face, her cheeks and forehead and the tip of her nose, before pressing soft lips to Jihoon’s chapped, overbitten ones. “So, so, much.”

They stayed like that for a while, eyes closed, with Wonwoo’s hands on either side of Jihoon’s face pressing their foreheads together. Jihoon was pretty sure she heard Chan and that kid leaving the clinic at some point, but she didn’t care. Nothing could interrupt that precious moment.

Except for Yoon Jeonghan.

Jihoon and Wonwoo pulled apart from each other at the sound of “Sexyback” indicating that Jeonghan was calling one of them. It was Jihoon. Jihoon sniffed, rubbing her eyes, then answered.

“Hey, you’re on speaker.”

“What’s taking you so long? I’m horny, and this ass isn’t going to finger itself.”

Wonwoo snorted, and Jihoon rolled her eyes. “We’re coming.”

“If you take much longer you won’t be. Chop chop, ladies."

 

 

When Jisoo got back to the dorm on Monday night, Mingyu was bent over the bathroom sink applying eyeliner an inch away from the mirror, her sequined miniskirt bunching and riding up her thighs. “Where are you going?” Jisoo asked as she tugged the hem of Mingyu’s skirt back down.

Mingyu looked precious when she did her makeup, sticking a bit of her tongue out the side of her mouth. She met Jisoo’s eyes in the mirror, one eye done. “Party.”

“Where?”

“Sigma Alfie Eggsalot or whatever.”

“Sigma Alpha Epsilon? Mingyu, _no_.”

“What? Why not?”

Jisoo sighed and started braiding her hair out of nervous habit. “SAE is full of assholes. They have no respect for women, even less for queer women. Any SAE guy’s number one goal is to sleep with as many girls as possible, whether they give consent or not. The OSLs call them Sexual Assault Expected.”

“Oh. Fuck. I already look halfway cute though.” She pouted at Jisoo. “Can we find another party?”

“How?”

“We’re in a sorority, it can’t be that hard.” She turned around, facing Jisoo full-on, and gave Jisoo her big, brown puppy eyes. “Please, Jisoo?”

And that’s how Jisoo ended up at a crowded house party on a Monday night.

It wasn’t one of the frat houses — thank god — but instead, some upperclassman guy Jisoo had met maybe once in passing. She found it through the friend of a friend of her Big, some other second year called Jeonghan.

“Jeonghan’s a little wild, but they’re super nice,” her Big’s friend had explained over a three-way call.

“I met them once last year,” her Big said. “We were super high. Walked through a Wendy’s drive-thru and tried to order Taco Bell.”

“I wanna meet them,” Mingyu said, bouncing in place on Jisoo’s loft bed.

 

 

They found Jeonghan on a couch in the living room, arms slung around two girls on either side: Jihoon and Wonwoo. They were mentors at the honors college alongside Jisoo, so they’d met plenty of times. Jisoo liked them. Both looked like they’d rather be anywhere else, but neither tried to move out of Jeonghan’s grasp. Jihoon was just chilling, while Wonwoo had one hand around a beer and the other on Jeonghan’s thigh. As Jisoo and Mingyu packed farther into the room, Wonwoo saw her and nodded.

“Hey Jisoo,” she called.

Jeonghan paused in the middle of the dramatic story they’d been telling. “You’re Jisoo?” they shouted. 

“Jeonghan, you’re yelling,” Jihoon said.

“It’s a party,” Jeonghan said matter-of-factly, waving the hand that was around Jihoon, almost smacking her in the face. “Jisoo, come sit with us! And who’s this beautiful girl?”

There weren’t any available surfaces to sit on — even the top of the card table had been claimed — so Jisoo and Mingyu just sat on the floor within Jeonghan’s circle. “This is my roommate, Mingyu."

“Hi!” Mingyu smiled, bright and friendly and white-toothed. Several people around them gaped, including Jeonghan, Wonwoo, and Jisoo.

“Holy shit,” said Wonwoo, “you have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re a fucking angel, darling,” Jeonghan said. Then they said, to no one in particular it seemed, “Isn’t she the most precious honey you’ve ever seen?”

Mingyu’s cheeks had turned a fruity pink. “Stop, you’re just drunk.”

Jeonghan ignored her and turned to Jihoon. “Can we adopt her? We’re adopting her. Mingyu, you’re our daughter now.”

Mingyu giggled shyly, though she glowed under the praise and attention. Jisoo smiled at how cute Mingyu was when she got like this, a little embarrassed but happy.

“Are you into foursomes?” Jeonghan said, and everyone in earshot either laughed or groaned.

Wonwoo slapped Jeonghan’s thigh, but she was giggling. “We’re adopting her, we can’t have sex with her, you horny bastard.”

“Fuck! You’re right. I’m sorry, sweetheart, forgive me.” They looked at either of their girlfriends. “You two into threesomes?"

 

 

“It’s Monday movie night, sluts,” Seungkwan announced as he barged through the bathroom door, Hansol in tow with a fluffy black cat in his arms. 

“The fuck’s that?” Minghao pointed at the cat.

“This is Artemis.”

“He found her in the fucking river last night,” Seungkwan said.

“She was drowning. I’m taking care of her until she gets better.” Hansol stroked a spot behind Artemis’s ear.

“I love her,” Seokmin cooed as he made grabby hands at Artemis. “Lemme hold her. What a sweetheart.” Hansol handed the cat over to Seokmin, who cradled her in his arms like a treasure. “I would die for her.”

“Hansol almost did,” Seungkwan said.

Hansol lightly shoved Seungkwan. “Did not. But I would.”

“It’s a cat,” Seungkwan said.

“ _She_.” Hansol glared at Seungkwan.

“Guys!” Minghao had their phone out. “Junhui found a good party and invited us. We should go.”

“Thank god,” Seungkwan groaned. “I wanna get laid.”

“But movie,” Seokmin said in between kisses to Artemis’s head and cheeks. “I was excited to show you guys The Incredibles.”

“I’ve seen it a million times, Seok,” Seungkwan said while he played with his hair in Minghao’s mirror.

“But Minghao hasn’t!”

“And they will in due time. Are you gonna do your makeup or not?”

Seokmin sighed. He’d been looking forward to staying in the dorm all night. “But Seungkwan—”

“Kwon Soonyoung might be there.”

“I’ll be ready in ten.”

 

Jisoo and Mingyu were in the kitchen now, Jeonghan’s groupies having dispersed after they dragged Jihoon and Wonwoo upstairs with obvious intentions. Mingyu apparently knew the host, so she didn’t have enough shame to not rummage the pantry for food and emerge with peanut butter, jelly, and wonderbread. Soon enough, she was making PB&J sandwiches for a bunch of drooling guys.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy you’ve been seeing?” Mingyu motioned with her lips.

Jisoo followed Mingyu’s gaze. Walking through the door in a thin, _tight_ tee, was Junhui. His usually shaggy hair was gelled and swept to the side, and it revealed a good portion of his forehead. His jeans were black and tight with a tantalizing rip over one of the thighs, showing a slip of golden skin. Jisoo stared; she couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked that good.

“I take that as a yes,” Mingyu said, giggling as she slathered peanut butter onto a slice of bread.

“I’m not _seeing_ him.” Jisoo turned back to Mingyu as Junhui disappeared from her sight.

“No, you’re undressing him. With your eyes.” Mingyu wiggled her eyebrows.

Jisoo would have pushed Mingyu if the latter weren’t handling a butter knife. “He looks good!”

“Mhm. Maybe you should tell him that.”

Jisoo picked up the bottle of jelly and started helping Mingyu, not wanting to think about Junhui. “Maybe later.”

“No, I mean you should tell him that because he’s coming over here right now.”

“Are you—” Jisoo looked back over her shoulder and saw dark hair and a broad chest, and she was gone.

“Hey, Jisoo. Didn’t think I’d see you here.” Junhui’s gaze dropped briefly to the jelly in Jisoo’s hand. He took a step forward, edging farther into her space but leaving a few inches between them. Something glinted in his eye, and Jisoo had a good idea of what was coming. Eyes never leaving Jisoo’s, he dipped a finger into the jar, brought it to his mouth. Jisoo watched Junhui’s finger disappear between his lips and heat rushed to her dick.

“It’s sweet,” his lips said, curling up around the words. “But not as sweet as you.”

“That’s unsanitary,” Jisoo said, but the effect was lost as her gaze was still stuck on Junhui’s lips.

Mingyu’s voice snapped Jisoo out of her daze. “Hey straight boy, I need that jelly.”

“I’m not straight,” Junhui said, at the same time that Jisoo said, “He’s not straight.”

“Okay faggot, I need that jelly.”

 

 

Minghao admired their own reflection in the glass door as they approached with Seungkwan and Seokmin. Hansol had stayed behind with Artemis, though he probably wouldn’t have come anyway since parties made him anxious. Minghao had changed out of their sweatpants in favor of black, high-waisted shorts and a cropped Led Zeppelin hoodie they’d made out of one of Seokmin’s own. It was still warm enough to go without tights, so their long, tan legs glowed under the porch light.

“Damn, who’s that hot bitch?” Seungkwan said.

“That’s you,” Minghao said.

“You’re right. It’s me.”

“Y’all are conceited,” Seokmin said. “But hot.”

“I really need to get dick tonight,” Seungkwan groaned as he opened the door.

“I just wanna dance,” Minghao said.

“Where’s Soonyoung?” Seokmin asked a guy, who’d been standing in the foyer with a beer, as soon as they arrived.

The guy smacked on his gum. “I thought you _didn’t know me_ outside of racquetball club.”

“I don’t know you. Where’s Soonyoung?”

Some dude with blond hair started grinding on the guy. Seokmin glared at him.

“There isn’t even any music.”

“Who needs music when you’re drunk,” the guy said, pushing his ass back against the guy. Minghao snorted at the disgusted look on Seokmin’s face, knowing if Soonyoung did that to _him_ he’d blow his load.

“Please, Seungcheol, I just want to know where Soonyoung is.”

“They’re working tonight,” Seungcheol slurred.

Seokmin groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “Why does god hate fags?”

“Come help me find a cute guy.” Seungkwan grabbed Seokmin’s arm and looked at Minghao. “Hao?”

“I’m gonna get a drink, I’ll find you guys.”

“Okay. Buzz us if you need help. Love you!” Seungkwan held out his pinky.

“Love you.” Minghao linked their pinkies together, then watched them walk off. Minghao turned to Seungcheol, who was now engaged in conversation with some guy about Twice.

“Hey, where’s the drinks?”

Seungcheol turned around and peered at Minghao like he was trying to remember who they were. He pointed, in a direction opposite from where Seungkwan and Seokmin went. “Kitchen. Can you grab me a beer?”

Minghao laughed nervously, watching the way Seungcheol was swaying on his feet. “I think you’ve had enough, buddy.”

The kitchen was not in the direction Seungcheol had directed them in, but it wasn’t that hard to find it anyway. Minghao groaned when they saw about a dozen guys packed in there, standing around an island. They’d been hoping they wouldn’t have to deal with men to get their drink. Apparently God had a bone to pick with them. Minghao got to the drinks without trouble, and was halfway through preparing their drink when they heard a girly giggle. They looked closer at the group around the island, more out of curiosity than anything else, and saw a girl opposite them, standing at the island with a slice of bread in her hand. Her skin was tan, golden and pretty even under the ugly kitchen light. Her hair was thick and brown, and fell around her shoulders in soft waves. She held the bread in one hand and a spreading knife in the other, grasped delicately between her fingers. She was the most beautiful girl Minghao had ever seen, and she caught Minghao staring at her.

“Do you want one?” She held up the slice of bread, slathered in a jelly that matched her plum-colored lipstick.

“Uh,” was all Minghao said.

The girl giggled again, and made a motion with her head. “C’mere.”

Minghao set their drink down a little too hard and did as she said.

 

 

Junhui chuckled as Jisoo unbuckled his belt with quick fingers. “Back so soon?” 

“Are you complaining?”

“About you? Never.”

When Jisoo glanced up at his face, he was smirking. But there was an underlying sincerity in his eyes, and it made Jisoo’s stomach twist. She tugged his pants down. “I’ll finger you if you suck me off.”

Junhui sucked in a breath and pushed himself farther up his bed and pulled off his shirt. “I didn’t bring lipstick.”

“I did.” Jisoo reached into the bag she left on the nightstand and pulled out a tube of pink Revlon lipstick. “Pucker up.”

The action was jarringly intimate, Jisoo realized, straddling Junhui’s lap while she painted his lips. His fingers grazed her hips before he gripped them tight and pulled them against his own, making both of them moan as their clothed dicks rubbed against each other.

“How do you want it?” Junhui asked. “Like this?”

Jisoo shook her head, unable to form a word when Junhui and his pink lips were looking at her like _that_ , like he never wanted her to leave. She let Junhui flip them over, watching in awe as he pushed up her skirt.

“ _Shit_ ,” he breathed. “What the hell are these?”

He had a finger hooked into the waistband of her panties, a white lacy pair she’d honestly forgot she was wearing. She shrugged and pushed a hand into his hair, just letting it rest there.

“You’re amazing,” he said, carefully taking off her panties. After throwing them onto the floor, he ran his fingers up and down her inner thighs.

“That tickles,” she said, twitching.

His hands stopped and gripped each of her thighs. “Sorry. You’re just so pretty like this, I can’t help it.” He leaned down and kissed the inside of her knee. “I want you so bad.”

Jisoo wasn’t sure what that meant. “You have me.”

His grip on her thighs tightened for a beat, and he drew in a slow breath. “Yeah.” Before Jisoo could dwell on it, Junhui bit her thigh, close to her dick.

“Jun — shit.”

Junhui hummed, continuing to lick and bite along her thighs, avoiding where she wanted him most.

“Junnie, please,” she whined as his cheek grazed the tip of her dick.

His eyes flickered up to hers. “Are you begging?”

“I will if I have to.”

“Beg for me, noona.”

Jisoo stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then burst out laughing. When she looked down at him, he was snickering and looking too pleased with himself, his head pillowed on her thigh. “ _Don’t_ call me noona.”

“Mommy?”

Jisoo giggled. “No! You’re making me soft.”

He laughed into her skin. “Sorry for killing the mood.”

She tugged on his hair. “Come up here.”

“Are you not gonna let me suck your dick ‘cause I called you noona?”

She rolled her eyes as she brought their lips together for a short kiss. “Someone needs to teach you how to shut up.”

He smirked before dipping back down to kiss Jisoo again. They stayed kissing lazily for a while, Junhui’s lipstick smearing around his mouth and on Jisoo’s lips. Jun must have had a drink or two, because he was noisier than usual, letting out little sounds against Jisoo’s mouth that gradually became desperate. Jisoo felt herself getting harder just listening to him, and finally he grinded his hips down, and they both moaned.

“Junhui,” she said when his mouth moved to her neck.

“Yeah?”

“Please get your dick out.”

“Since you said please,” he said, sounding more eager than teasing. He shifted off of her so he could take off his briefs, and in the meantime she pulled off her skirt so it wouldn’t stay bunched around her stomach.

When Junhui got between Jisoo’s legs again, she giggled. “What?” he said.

“You look like Pennywise.” She touched the pink-stained area around his mouth with her fingers.

He groaned. “And you say _I_ need to learn how to shut up.”

“Just put my dick in your mouth.”

“As you wish.” Junhui pushed Jisoo’s legs farther apart and leaned in between her thighs. His lips grazed the tip of her dick when they heard something crash outside the room, then a couple voices.

“You’re really pretty.” Jisoo immediately recognized Seungcheol’s deep slurring voice, letting out a groan alongside Junhui’s. But she couldn’t place a name on the next voice.

“And you’re heavy. Where the fuck’s your room?”

Junhui sat up, a drop of precum on his upper lip, while Jisoo got up and pulled on her shirt and underwear.

“Seungcheol, what the fuck?” Jisoo said when she found Seungcheol stumbling across his and Junhui’s living room with the help of a boy she didn’t recognize. She crossed the small room to help stabilize his other side, a half clothed Junhui following. “How much did you drink?”

“Enough to chuck guts all over my friend,” the other boy said, wrinkling his nose.

“Christ, Cheol,” Junhui gave Jisoo an apologetic look, but she just rolled her eyes. “Here, I’ve got him. Let’s put him on the couch, on his side.”

Seungcheol was a placated, pliant kind of drunk; it was relatively easy for the three of them to drop him on the couch without a fuss. However, he was also a clingy drunk.

“Jisoo, cuddle with me,” Seungcheol whined, making grabby hands at her. Jisoo sighed as she settled in next to him.

Junhui turned to the other boy. “Thanks for helping him home, uh...”

“Seungkwan,” the boy said.

“Seungkwan,” Junhui repeated. “I’m Junhui, and this is Jisoo.”

Seungkwan nodded disinterestedly. “Well, sorry for cockblocking,” his sentence was punctuated by a couple pointed looks at Junhui and Jisoo’s undress, “I’ll go now.”

When Seungkwan was gone, Seungcheol noticed Junhui standing there. “Junnie, cuddle with us!”

The look on Junhui’s face was amused and a little smug as he joined them on the couch, squishing Jisoo between the two boys. Jisoo’s face pressed into the back of Junhui’s neck, and she had to wrap her arms around him in order to fit, her bottom arm snug under his neck. 

Seungcheol sighed, content, and Jisoo felt it against her hair. He had a hand on Junhui’s side, and he tried to pull them in closer. “The two people I love most.”

Jisoo didn’t say anything, but Junhui hummed in response, brushing his hand over Jisoo’s.

 

 

Seokmin wondered what exactly he had to have done in his past life to deserve being vomited on by a drunk man.

The drunk man was Choi Seungcheol, who had come over probably to pester Seokmin again, only he’d hardly got in a single word before discarding the contents of his stomach onto Seokmin’s shirt. Seungkwan had looked like he was in between shock and amusement, and offered to help Seungcheol home.

Seokmin sighed as he scrubbed his sweatshirt in the bathroom. This wasn’t how he’d imagined he’d be spending his night.

His phone buzzed. He picked it up, assuming it was Seungkwan or Minghao, but it was a snap from Kwon Soonyoung.

They were in their work uniform, and their hair had been dyed a soft purple. _Heard you were looking for me_.

Fucking Choi Seungcheol. Seokmin spent about five minutes trying to take a picture that didn’t show his shirt but still looked good, then typed out, _How’s work?_

The reply was almost instant. The picture was a shot similar to Seokmin’s, a close-up of their face. _I get off at 12. Walk me home?_

Seokmin tore off his sweatshirt and bolted out of the house.

When he got to the diner, it was 12:06. The bell rang when Seokmin walked in, and Soonyoung looked up from where they were cleaning a table and smiled. “Irene, I’m gonna take off now, okay?”

A young, dark-haired woman popped up from behind the bar. “Okay. Good night, Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung disappeared into the back for a couple minutes then reappeared to join Seokmin. “Hey.”

Seokmin swallowed. “Hey.”

“Why are you just in a T-shirt? It’s cold tonight.”

“Seungcheol puked on me.”

Soonyoung wrinkled his nose. “Good, so you don’t usually smell like that.”

Seokmin’s cheeks went warm. “Uh, no.”

“Do you want my jacket?”

Seokmin shook his head, insisting that he was fine, but Soonyoung was already shrugging off their oversized hoodie and thrusting it at Seokmin’s chest. His heart thrummed at the split second that their knuckles brushed against each other, and he was intrigued to find that Soonyoung’s hoodie smelled of jasmine. It was a snug fit, stretching around his shoulders and across his chest. “What about you?” Seokmin asked.

It was incredibly cute, Seokmin found, the way Soonyoung’s cheeks looked when they smiled. “Don’t worry about me, Seoku.”

As soon as Seokmin pushed open the door and the cool air rushed in, Soonyoung sprung to Seokmin’s side, wrapping both of their arms around his waist. Seokmin stepped outside, and while Seokmin went forward, Soonyoung had to step sideways.

“Soonyoung. We can’t walk like this.”

“But it’s cold.”

“Then take your jacket back.”

“Then _you’ll_ be cold! How am I supposed to woo you when you’re freezing?”

Seokmin almost choked at that, but managed to hold it together. “Why am _I_ walking _you_ home if you’re the one wooing me?”

Soonyoung tilted their head. “I’m wooing you by making you woo me.”

“What if I’m wooing you by letting you woo me by making me woo you?”

“Nuh-uh. All of that is a part of me making you woo me. I’m still the woo master.”

“Maybe I’m wooing you by letting you think you’re the woo master.”

“Aw, that’s sweet of you. Now please walk me home. It’s cold.”

The walk back to Soonyoung’s residence hall was quicker than Seokmin would have liked it to be, since he didn’t want Soonyoung to spend too much time in the cold. Soonyoung clung to Seokmin’s arm, resting their head on his shoulder as they walked. The two talked the whole time, stories about their day and stupid jokes. Seokmin discovered he really liked the sound of Soonyoung’s laugh.

“I would ask you to come up, but my roommate’s science project is taking up like, all of the space in our dorm right now. But on any other night I would.”

“That’s okay. Um, here’s your jacket.” Seokmin started to pull off Soonyoung’s hoodie, but Soonyoung’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Keep it,” they said. “I want it to smell like you when you give it back to me.”

Seokmin felt his cheeks grow warm again. “Uh, when should I—”

“Junhui and Seungcheol are having this, like, Halloween get-together or whatever you want to call it. You should come. It’s on Saturday, ‘cause they wanna go to frat parties and shit on Friday.”

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll come.”

“Awesome! I’ll see you then.” Soonyoung swiped themselves into their hall.

Before the door closed, they blew a kiss at Seokmin, and it went straight to his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was supposed to be a lot of chansol and soonseok but it was mostly junshua. im sorry. more gyuhao/chansol/soonseok to come in the next one though!!
> 
> ALSO this hasn't been said yet but seungkwan and chan are trans boys. just so u know
> 
> EDIT: so some of the days were mixed up so i went back and fixed them. why would there be a busy house party on a monday? idk. college students have nothing better to do


	3. Halloween - Before the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seokmin doesn't know what to wear to Junhui and Seungcheol's Halloween party, Jisoo reveals her relationship with Junhui to Soonyoung, and Chan and Jihoon have a bonding moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UHHHH i'm sorry , . it's been like 4 months but here's like 9, 10k? and some smut (none in this part). i broke this up into several rly uneven parts that i'm gonna post once a day-ish. so this part is 2.4k!

should i wear a costume?

duh. it’s a halloween party.

what are you wearing?

that’s a little forward, maybe buy me dinner first?

...

:P just kidding! and you’ll just have to wait and see, pumpkin!

hehe, get it?

pumpkin

because halloween

i’m late for racquetball club.

>:( appreciate my jokes, lee seokmin

see u tonight, pumpkin! <3

wear your hottest underwear for me

KIDDING!

As it was, Junhui and Seungcheol were also late for racquetball club. When they finally strolled in, it was fifteen minutes after Seokmin and with a third person in tow: Kim Mingyu.

“Hey Seok,” Junhui said.

His sweats sat low on his hips, and his t-shirt clung to his chest. His lips shone with his lip balm, and suddenly Seokmin realized why the student body worshipped him despite not being an athlete. Seokmin could easily call Junhui annoying, but he couldn’t call him ugly. “This is Mingyu. She’s our newest recruit. Mingyu, meet Seokmin, our third best player.”

“We’ve met before, actually,” Mingyu said, smiling at Seokmin. “You’re friends with Jeonghan.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“You two were at Angelo’s last weekend, freaking out because of Soonyoung.”

Junhui snorted as Seokmin let out a groan. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Seungcheol said. Junhui let out another giggle, and Seungcheol said, high-pitched and whiny and Seokmin definitely didn’t sound like that, “Seungcheol, please tell me where Soonyoung is. Please, Seungcheol. Pleeeeaaase.”

Seokmin rolled his eyes. “Anyway. What are you guys wearing tonight? I need ideas.”

“You mean ideas that will impress Soonyoung,” Mingyu said.

Seungcheol and Junhui giggled again, and Seokmin knew his face must have been turning red. “I just don’t want to make a fool out of myself!”

“They like aliens,” Junhui said. “There’s an idea.”

“I’m not dressing up as a fucking alien.”

“Then I guess you’re not getting laid, either.”

Mingyu shoved Junhui. “Shut up. No one can get laid in an alien costume, anyway.”

“That’s not true, I could.”

“Wanna bet?” Seungcheol said.

“You’re on.”

Seokmin sighed. Asking Seungcheol and Junhui obviously wasn’t a good idea. “Fascinating conversation, but can we get back to me now? I’m not going to show up without a costume if Soonyoung expects me to wear one.”

Seungcheol waved him off. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Can we play now?”

Since they had an even number of people now, Mingyu joined Seokmin so he wouldn’t have to play Junhui and Seungcheol by himself. The game actually started off in Seokmin and Mingyu’s favor; they were leading five to two. When they stopped for a quick break, Seokmin sat next to Mingyu on the bench.

“Nice playing. You’re better than Seungcheol,” he said.

Mingyu smiled and thanked him, her face shining with sweat. She was cute. Tall and toned, and sporting a swishy dark ponytail that just brushed her shoulders. Definitely Minghao and Hansol’s type. Maybe he could find a way to introduce her to one of them.

Seokmin was going to ask if she wanted to hang out sometime, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Junhui coming toward them. The older boy plopped down on the bench next to Seokmin and threw an arm around his shoulder. “Killin’ it on the court, Mingyu. We might be able to make it through regionals this time, since I won’t be carrying the team on my broad, broad shoulders.”

“Uhh, sounds like a lot of pressure.”

“It is. But don’t worry! You’ll be great. You two ready to keep going?”

 

When Chan arrived at the clinic Saturday afternoon, Jihoon was tinkering around in the office with several dozen folders of paperwork. Her features were drawn tight into the center of her face, and while she often came off as grumpy, Chan knew this wasn’t just one of her moods.

“Hey, Jihoon,” Chan said, walking around the center table to the back of the tiny office so he could grab a lab coat.

Jihoon slapped one of the folders down on the table and spared Chan the briefest glare before continuing.

Chan let out a single laugh-y breath as he shoved one of his arms into the coat. “Organizing the files?”

This time, Jihoon spoke, but it was through a steel jaw. “That new intern is a useless shit.”

“Jeremy?”

One of the folders fell off the table and onto the floor, and at least a dozen documents fluttered out. Jihoon clenched her fist and groaned, then bent down to pick them up. Chan joined her. “I don’t know his name. All he does is follow me around like, ‘Jihoon how do I do this, Jihoon how do I do that, Jihoon what should I do?’ God.”

“Yeah, sounds annoying.” Chan passed her the last of the documents, and they both stood up. Jihoon set the folder down on the table, a lot gentler than before.

“So,” Chan said, “What’s up?”

“What do you mean.”

“What’s bothering you? You look grumpy today.”

Jihoon scowled and looked away. “I always look grumpy.”

“No you don’t. Just ‘cause you aren’t high energy doesn’t mean you’re a grump. You usually just look... stoic.”

“ ‘Stoic.’ ”

Chan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. That wasn’t what he was going for. He switched tactics. “You take things seriously, especially your job. That’s not being grumpy. Besides, you can’t be that mean and boring if you’re dating Jeonghan.”

Jihoon rolled her eyes, but there wasn’t any malice in the gesture. Actually, Chan thought the corners of her mouth may have lifted a little. “Yeah, okay.”

“Jisoo and Mingyu told me they tried to get Mingyu to have a foursome with you, Jeonghan, and Wonwoo.”

“Jesus, don’t remind me.” Chan laughed, and Jihoon lightly punched his shoulder. The bell on the front door rang. “That’s our 1:15.”

The 1:15 appointment was a two-year-old Weimaraner who needed her vaccinations. It was a quick one; she was a good dog, as Jihoon reminded her every few seconds. Chan watched how Jihoon handled the dog, offering her a doggy biscuit and giving her plenty of pats before going in with the needle.

“What a sweet girl,” Jihoon cooed as the owner picked up their dog. She asked Chan to clean up the room so she could check them out.

While he was wiping down the examining table, Chan remembered that it was the same exam room where he and Jihoon (mostly Jihoon) saved Artemis. Well, that wasn’t correct, Chan thought. It was Hansol who saved her. If he hadn’t jumped in the river, she would have drowned.

He’d seen Hansol only once since then. The boy came in with Artemis a couple days after for a check-up and to get her shots, and thankfully Chan and Jihoon were the technicians working that day. He told them that Artemis had thrown up three times, so Jihoon said to switch to a dry food that didn’t contain corn. She looked the other way when Chan gave him a few more packs of food than she’d asked him to. Chan told himself that it was only out of the goodness of his heart, and not because Hansol looked impossibly cute in the puffy coat that was far too warm for the season. Later, when he pulled out his phone and googled corny jokes while Jihoon wasn’t looking, he told himself it was to lighten the mood, and not because he liked the way Hansol laughed with his whole body.

Chan and Jihoon walked out of the clinic at the end of their shift together; Jihoon offered Chan a ride, and as usual, he declined. But when they would usually part ways, Jihoon stopped. “Hey, Chan?”

Chan turned back, confused.

The look on Jihoon’s face was a wild mix that Chan had never seen before. Uncomfortable, and if Chan didn’t know any better, he might think it was vulnerability.

“Seungcheol and Junhui are having a party at their place tonight. It’s probably gonna get a little wild, because they invited like, half the campus. I’m only going because of Jeonghan and because I like to get fucked up every once in a while so I can — anyway. You should come. You’d make it a little more tolerable.”

Now Chan wasn’t confused. He was completely and utterly taken aback. A party invite and a compliment in one breath from Jihoon. He stuttered, “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ll come.”

“Great. See you there. It’s at 10.” With that, she hopped into Wonwoo’s car and left Chan standing in front of the cat clinic, mouth wide open.

_(Saturday, October 29: Jihoon invited me to a party?)_

 

“Who are you texting?”

It was Saturday, the day of Junhui and Seungcheol’s party, and Soonyoung was at Jisoo’s dorm. They said they wanted to get ready together, and Jisoo was pretty sure that meant they wanted Mingyu to do their makeup. Mingyu hadn’t gotten back from racquetball club yet, so instead of getting ready, they cuddled up on Jisoo’s futon and Soonyoung played Superstar JYP. Jisoo watched them for a while, and they let Jisoo pick the songs. Soonyoung was immensely entertained by the game, so when Jisoo got a text from Junhui, Soonyoung didn’t notice that she was texting him. But soon enough, Soonyoung was peeking their nose over her shoulder.

“No one,” Jisoo said, locking her phone so Soonyoung couldn’t see.

“You’re texting that guy from your Civics lecture that you’ve been seeing, aren’t you? Are you guys sexting? Can I see?”

Jisoo rolled her eyes and gave Soonyoung a half-hearted push. “We’re not sexting. We were just talking about...” She tried to recall anything about the class that could help her out. “Civics.”

“That’s boring. Do you want me to write a sexy message for you?”

“I’m pretty sure he would be able to tell it’s not me. I don’t uwu-type,” Jisoo said, flinching as Soonyoung flicked her forehead.

“Whatever. So.” Soonyoung’s face was solemn, eyes unsmiling and mouth unturned. Jisoo held back a groan, already suspecting what they were going to say. “What’s up with you and Jun?”

“We’re hanging out?”

“I know that. But that’s not it.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

Soonyoung’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit, almost imperceptibly, but after being friends for three years, Jisoo was familiar enough with their idiosyncrasies to catch it. “Do you like him?”

“No, I don’t like—” Jisoo’s phone vibrated, and a text from  _Junnieee.｡.:*☆_ lit up in her lap. Thankfully, she had her text previews off, so whatever incriminating message Junhui left her wouldn’t reach Soonyoung’s eyes. Her hand flew to dismiss the notification, but when she met Soonyoung’s stern look, she knew it would take a lot of work to make them let it go. “I didn’t give him that name. He changed it in my phone.”

“But you didn’t change it back. I wonder why?” Jisoo started to reply, but Soonyoung cut her off. “God, I knew this would happen. There’s no fucking Civics guy, is there?”

Before Jisoo could respond and assure Soonyoung that she knew what she was doing as well as apologize for lying to them, the door opened and Mingyu entered, her high pony frazzled and tennis skirt wrinkled.

Soonyoung’s face lit up at the sight of Mingyu, and they snorted when they saw how disheveled she was. “Fucking hell, Mingyu, what kind of racquetball were you playing?”

Mingyu shrugged her athletic bag off her shoulder and dropped it onto her desk chair. “Uh, the taking Seungcheol’s dick up my ass kind?”

Soonyoung screeched, while Jisoo spluttered and covered her face with her hands. “Mingyu, god.”

“Don’t act like you’ve never messed around with him.”

“That was ages ago! We hooked up during Welcome Week on the night we met and that’s it. It’s out of my system.”

“Okay, okay, while I would love to discuss Jisoo and Seungcheol’s sexual history,” Soonyoung said with their hands raised, “Mingyu needs to shower so she can do my makeup and not smell like she just got pounded.”

Mingyu reluctantly agreed and disappeared into the bathroom. Soonyoung got up and sat down at Jisoo’s desk to mess with their hair. In the mirror, they met Jisoo’s eyes. “We’re talking about this later.”

 

Hansol had learned quickly that his roommates worshipped Halloween. The first sign was when they collectively spent a hundred dollars on decorations for their suite; Hansol helped Seokmin hang the red-and-black string lights (“I swear they looked orange on the box”) while Minghao and Seungkwan put up those jelly stick-ons that were sure to stain the walls and decorated the front door. But their costumes took their obsession to the next level.

“Monster Mash” was apparently their soundtrack for the night. Hansol sat on the futon in Seokmin and Minghao’s room and played one of his TapTap games while the three of them got ready. After 21 repeats, Seungkwan announced that he was done. Minghao shrieked. “You look sooo good.”

And he did. He was a “sexy angel,” which had earned Hansol a snort when he told him about the idea, and by God did he live up to the name. He wore a skin-tight, white slip dress with lace trim that traced his curves, paired with white thigh highs that had small bows on the front. He’d dyed his blond hair back to its natural black, which seemed like an odd choice at first, but seeing it now, Hansol knew it was the right decision.

“Wow, Kwannie, you look like a certified hoe. If I didn’t know you were an asshole I’d fuck you.”

“Shut up, Seokmin. Like I’d ever bottom for you.”

“You look good,” Hansol said.

Seungkwan grinned. “Thank you, Hansol. And again, fuck you, Seokmin.”

Next was Minghao. Like Seungkwan, they’d went for classic: a sexy cat. Though, it was really just leather shorts and a black, velvet long-sleeved top, finished with cat ears. Their eye makeup further played up the “cat” look, and they’d drawn tiny whiskers on their face. Hansol had to admit, Minghao kind of did look like a cat.

Then Seokmin. He wasn’t quite done yet, but Hansol had a hard time figuring out what he was supposed to be. It would come together eventually, though.

Under the futon, Artemis mewed. She’d been sleeping there a lot. Smiling, Hansol bent over to peer into her eyes. “Hey, girl.” Artemis mewed again and scrabbled forward, and licked Hansol’s nose.

 


	4. Hour 1 [22:00-23:00]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween 2/4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided that since there's soooo much going on at once, I'm going to have to break up the halloween party hour by hour. Each of these POVs take place roughly around the same time, and they run a little into each other, though if necessary I have timestamps to make the timeline a little clearer.
> 
> also, I've hinted at some things going on with/between other characters and pairings, but since most of them are background pairings I've decided not to pursue them further (i.e. giving them their own POVs). i'll mostly focus on junshua, soonseok, gyuhao, and chansol, although soonseok and chansol don't get as much time in this series of chapters just because of how much is going on around them. plus chansol is gonna be a reaaaal slow burn. really slow.

—  _Minghao_.

They were a bit too early for the party. Being freshmen, they hadn’t realized you weren’t actually supposed to go at the time it technically “started.” When Junhui opened the door, his face quickly switched from confusion to amusement.

“First ones here. I like the enthusiasm. Cute costume, Hao.”

“Shut up,” Minghao said, pushing past Junhui.

The condo their cousin shared with Seungcheol was a decent size. Minghao had been there a few times before, on the rare occasions that they could tolerate Junhui’s company for more than a few minutes. They each had their own bedrooms, which Junhui had told them were strictly off-limits due to the fact that both of them were expecting to have to use them themselves. Their living room was pretty big, as was the partially-open kitchen that sat off to the side. They had a basement, as well, that was pretty much reserved for partying. The shared areas were much more sparsely decorated than their bedrooms, which was probably a good thing when it came to parties.

“Seungcheol isn’t here right now,” Junhui said. “He went on a snack run.” He looked at Minghao’s friends one by one, smirking when he saw Seokmin. “You all look good. You especially, Seok. Trying to win best costume, huh?”

Seokmin crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “What are you supposed to be?”

Junhui scoffed and gestured to the two rust-colored fur ears poking out of his hair. “I’m a fox. Duh.”

It took maybe thirty, forty-five more minutes for Junhui and Seungcheol’s apartment to fill up, but by then, Junhui and Seungcheol had already managed to get Seokmin buzzed. Usually, Seungkwan would be right up there with him, but he was a little off that night. Minghao tried to ask him what was wrong, but before they could, Seokmin snatched their hand and dragged them off to one of the bathrooms and locked the door.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Seokmin’s eyes were wide open and a little frantic, and he still had Minghao’s hand in his and a sweatshirt that apparently belonged to Soonyoung in the other. Minghao gave it a squeeze. “Seokmin?”

“Soonyoung is here,” he whispered. “I saw them.”

Minghao blinked. “Okay? That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Seokmin’s bottom lip quivered. Oh no. “What if they think I look stupid?”

Oh. Minghao sighed. “Seokmin. Seokmin, look at me.” They took Seokmin’s face in their hands. “Seokmin, you look so hot tonight that I would sub for you.”

Seokmin choked. “I—”

“And you know I don’t sub. For anyone. But honestly? If you weren’t my best friend, I’d let you plow me in front of everyone at this party.”

“Jesus — what the fuck, Hao?”

“Go out there and find Soonyoung. Okay?”

Seokmin blinked a few times, shaking his head in disbelief. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah. I’ll find them.”

Assured that Seokmin had at least enough confidence not to clam up or vomit on Soonyoung, Minghao unlocked the door and gave him a little push. “Go get ‘em. Get some ass.”

Seokmin scurried off in whatever direction, and Minghao smiled to themselves. Seokmin had grown up, a  _lot_ , since the year they met in high school, but he was still a hopeless,  _helpless_ romantic.

Walking out of the bathroom, Minghao checked the time on their phone. Almost eleven o’clock. They may as well get wasted and let a stranger grind on them.

They looked up from their phone at the very last second before walking straight into someone. Luckily, they were taller than them, so they didn’t go tumbling. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking—” Minghao stopped. “Oh. It’s you.”

Mingyu smiled down at them, her cheeks dusted with a light pink highlight and her hair in wavy pigtails. She wore a sparkly green top that showed some of her tan chest, and a matching tutu. “Minghao!” 

“Hey, Mingyu. You make a cute Tinkerbell.” That made Mingyu’s smile grow even wider, and Minghao couldn’t help mirroring it.

“Thank you. You don’t make a bad kitty, either.” When Minghao’s face flushed, Mingyu laughed. “Come on, dance with me.”

Minghao could do that. Dancing was easy, and since they wouldn’t have to talk as much, there were less chances to embarrass themselves. They let her guide them into the throng of people in the living room and pull their hips together. Someone had turned off the lights, so the trickle of golden light from the kitchen was the only thing keeping them lit. Maybe it was the darkness, or the punch finally kicking in, or even just the thrill of being with the most beautiful girl they’d ever seen once again. Whatever it was, it allowed them the courage to move their hips with hers, movements becoming more fluid with each beat until they lost themselves.

[22:28] —  _Jihoon_.

“Jihoon, what the hell?” Seungcheol looked the girl up and down, an amused look of exasperation on his face. Next to him stood Junhui, whose mouth parted around his laugh. “You can’t just throw on your cheer uniform and call yourself a cheerleader.”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Is that what our coach told you when you came in for tryouts?”

Junhui howled and slapped Seungcheol’s shoulder. To his credit, Seungcheol laughed, too. “Whatever, Ji.” He nodded at Jeonghan and Wonwoo, who were both adorning only a pair of nondescript animal ears. “Hey.”

“I need a drink.” Jeonghan grabbed Jihoon and Wonwoo’s hands and pulled them toward Seungcheol and Junhui’s kitchen.

The party wasn’t as crowded as Jihoon had dreaded it would be, and she found she at least recognized and could name half of the people they saw. One of them was Hansol, the boy with the cat. He was in the kitchen by the cooler all alone, nursing a can of beer.

“How’s the cat?”

Hansol started when Jihoon approached him from the side. “Oh. Hi. She’s doing well.” He looked nervously at Jeonghan and Wonwoo and played with the can’s tab; the former had both arms slung around Jihoon’s shoulders and rested their chin on her head. Jihoon took that as her cue.

“This is Jeonghan, that’s Wonwoo. This is Hansol. Cat kid.”

Jeonghan’s chin poked Jihoon’s temple as they spoke. “Nice to meet you.” Wonwoo gave a nod of acknowledgement. Jihoon hoped Hansol wouldn’t take offense — Wonwoo was never one of many words.

“Wonwoo, get us some drinks,” Jihoon said. “Just a few beers.”

“Oh, here, I’ve got it,” Hansol said.

“Thanks,” Wonwoo said, cracking hers open.

Thankfully, Jihoon and Wonwoo were dating the friendliest human being on the planet. If it weren’t for Jeonghan, the other three would have engaged in the most awkward small talk of their lives. They asked him questions, about school, friends, life in general. None of them were too deep or intimate; Jeonghan knew their limits sometimes. Slowly, Hansol opened up more and more, and stopped acting like cornered prey. It definitely helped that he was drinking, though Jihoon made sure to keep a mental count in her head of how many drinks he consumed.

People came and went in the kitchen at varying degrees of drunkenness. Jeonghan, the heaviest drinker, was still sober; they didn’t like to get drunk too early in the night. Wonwoo and Jihoon were still on their first beer, and Hansol was halfway through his third and had a light buzz. He laughed easily and their jokes, even Jeonghan’s close-to-explicit ones, and Jihoon found that underneath all the anxiety, he was a cool guy.

They were talking about Hansol’s cat. Jeonghan loved cats, and made Hansol promise to let them come over to see her. Jihoon was about to tease Hansol for naming his cat Artemis when Junhui came into the kitchen with Jisoo, his arm around her waist. When they saw Jihoon, Wonwoo, and Jeonghan, Jisoo waved nonchalantly.

“Hi, Jihoon.”

“Hey, Jisoo.”

Jisoo and Junhui were in and out of the kitchen fast; they’d only come in for drinks. When they were out of sight, Jihoon turned to her girlfriend. “Did you know they were...”

Wonwoo’s plastic cup stopped at her lips as she thought. “No, but Soonyoung’s probably gonna be pissed when they hear about this.”

 

[22:32] — _Jisoo_.

They were supposed to come early and help set up, as per Seungcheol’s request, but by the time Mingyu and Soonyoung were finally ready to leave, it was already past ten. Since none of them had a car, they had to walk. Fortunately, Junhui and Seungcheol’s house was close to campus, and they made it there in fifteen minutes.

“You’re late,” Seungcheol griped, but Jisoo knew she was actually on time, if a little early. There weren’t that many people there — the house was at about 25% capacity.

Jisoo pointed to Mingyu and Soonyoung. “Take it up with them. Where’s Jun?”

“Right here.” Junhui slipped out from behind a small group of people, dressed in ripped light-wash jeans and his trademark black tee. His “costume” was just a set of fox ears. “Hey, Jisoo. Let me get you a drink.” He motioned for her to follow, so she did, waving to Soonyoung and Mingyu.

Because Junhui liked to start off all their parties with chill, indie music, she didn’t have to raise her voice much to be heard. “You’re pulling me away from my friends already?”

“You’re the one who asked for me as soon as you stepped inside. Bold move, doing that in front of Seungcheol.”

“We need to talk about that.”

Junhui’s jaw twitched. He did that when he was annoyed. “We already did.”

“We almost got caught, Jun.”

“I hate it when you call me that.”

Jisoo sighed, but let it drop. Neither of them said anything else until after Junhui got them beers. They stood in the corner of the living room and talked for a while just like that, close but not too close, and avoiding any intimate subjects. Homework. Homecoming. Jisoo’s sorority. It was like they were just classmates. Jisoo hated it, and she could tell Junhui did, too. She saw it in the tightness of his shoulders and in his white knuckles over a glass bottle, heard it in the way he his voice shook ever so slightly. Eventually, she just needed them to move, to not be stuck in that spot anymore.

“I’m empty,” she said, shaking her bottle.

“Oh,” Junhui said. “Do you want me to get you another?”

She nodded. “I’ll come with you.”

For once, Junhui didn’t initiate any touching. Even with friends, Junhui was a touchy person — hand holding, cuddling, whatever, as long as he had his hands on them. So, even though she wasn’t sure where they were at that point, she put her hand on his arm. Almost mechanically, his arm moved around her back, and she felt his hand just above her hip.

Jihoon, Wonwoo, and Jeonghan were in the kitchen, talking to a boy Jisoo hadn’t met. She waved at them while Junhui grabbed them two more beers, then they headed back out to the living room.

For the first time since she’d arrived, Jisoo checked her phone and saw an unread message from Soonyoung, sent only five minutes previously.

[Soonie] meet me in seungcheol’s room.

Jisoo didn’t even bother replying. She told Junhui that Soonyoung needed her, and tried not to dwell on the disappointed look on his face when she left him.


End file.
